Chronology of the 1995 Mustang GT transformation to Open Track Car

[Yankee_pony]

Chronology of the 1995 Mustang GT
transformation to
Open Track Car


Chronology of the 1995 Mustang GT
transformation to
Open Track Car


Well after a 5 month wait for the title and another 2 months on family projects,

Philip moving out and painting his condo, then 5 or 6 weeks were spent on building Melissa & Robert a Storage Shed.

It is time to start work on the Mustang

Added 12-25-2009

As I get into my 16th year of Open Tracking, the work we have put into maintaining the cosmetic appearance of our current and past vehicles has consumed an enormous amount of time and effort. When I came across this good body worn out mechanical 1995 Mustang, I said that be a perfect “track” car. I can make this into a track car that does not need to be meticulous cosmetic maintenance.

This is the goal I set.

Put together a Safe Reliable Vehicle

Purpose Open Track events, not built for competition, not built to a sanctioning body rules.

Be “street legal” in most obvious appearance.

It will have working lights, head /signal / brake and windshield wipers.

It will not have any amenities such as radio.

It may have a heater defroster but this will be determined during the build.

Build the car with many of the parts we have already purchased for projects for the 93 Cobra and the 95R that just never got under way.

Keep the total out lay of cash, to $10,000 (not including parts on hand)

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The rear end for Project Race Car 2009 was completed back in August 2009

8.8 Ford housing from the 1994 wreck I purchased in November 2001

New 31 spline axles
New 31 spline Torsen T2R
3.27 gears these were the gears from my 1996 Cobra
M 2300 M FRPP brake kit (11.65 Cobra rear brakes)
New (NIB) Ford rear Calipers these were spares I purchased for the 93 and the R many years ago

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The engine is a FRPP 351 W 385 HP I found on Craigslsit NIB, for $4100 plus $183 shipping
I added the extra set of Cobra R headers I had to it and a Canton Pan (NIB) I purchased from e bay.

Engine came with Fox Body Water Pump and timing cover.

Removed the above, then installed 1994/1995 5.0 front engine timing cover and water pump.
Added FRPP under drive pulley set for 1994/1995 Mustang

FRPP tall valve covers that came with the engine interfered with alternator, the set of 1993 to 1995 Cobra valve covers I had did not fit on the 351 with the roller rockers it came with.

Purchased 2 used sets of 1987 to 1993 5.0 cast aluminum covers. I am using two passenger side covers so I can have a breather on each side of the engine, I am using FRPP breather # M6766N303, and they screw in place of the normal stock factor oil cap.

All I need to make it run now is a Carburetor, I feel I will save $2000 going carburetor vs. EFI and not have to deal with ECU tuning etc.

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I finally started to disassemble the 1995 Mustang GT on Tuesday 12-8-2009 almost 7 months to the day I took the car home

I had previously removed the alternator and PS brackets refinished them and put them on the FRPP 351 crate engine with a new alternator and PS pump.

Sitting idle for many months in one spot it became the home to some mice.

Fortunately I did not find that they destroyed any thing of value, and were contained to the trunk area.

Day 1 (12-8-2009) Tuesday

Flushed cooling system, and drained block as much as possible, removed pipe plug in passenger side of block, unable to reach the drivers side plug now. (This way anything left in the block that will drip on my garage floor is water.)

Removed & saved cooling fan
Removed radiator (to be put up for sale)
Removed ac condenser (to be discarded as used metal)
Removed & discarded all AC lines under hood (trash)
Removed & saved front bumper assembly (may replace it with a cobra bumper TBD)
Removed head lights and header they attach too (need to purchase new head lights)

Removed and discarded all trunks lining and mats some of this was destroyed by the mice but it was well worn anyway no loss (trash)

Day 2 (12-9-2009) Wednesday

Checked for operation and cleaned & stored cooling fan
Cleaned and stored under hood plastic parts that go around cooling fan & radiator

Day 3 (12-10-2009) Thursday

Removed rear seats (to be discarded at future date) (went in trash)
Removed all seat belts (to be discarded at future date)



Day 4 (12-11-2009) Friday

First time it has been below freezing, worked outside today in 26 to 30 degree temps.

Removed the rear interior trim (will try to sell)
Removed console (will try to sell)
Removed door sill and kick panel trim (will try to sell)
Removed & discarded rug
Removed & discarded rear package tray speakers

Found $4.72 in change under seat and rug.

Removed two front fenders will be reinstalled at a latter date
Removed Hood (will try to sell)

Put car in the garage now that I was satisfied I removed all mouse nest and mouse droppings from interior.

Removed H pipe (will try to sell)

Overall analysis so far 12-12-2009 Saturday Morning

Found a stress crack in the floor pan near the left rear side of the driver’s seat about 3 inches long. I will have to decide on a form of repair. Thinking of making a patch plate that spans crack rivet it in place, on the interior side then weld crack from underside when I have sub frame connectors installed.

Only heavily rusted area of car so far is the bottom of the radiator support, but mainly surface rust not rot.

Plan is to remove every thing from engine compartment and the front suspension and clean up the engine bay and front unibody aprons, engine side and exterior side, then prime and paint before I reassemble

Brake and fuel lines show lot of surface rust some brake lines look rotted, I noticed this many months ago and I am looking to replace them all.

Question I am asking myself now is do I upgrade to ABS brakes car does not have factory ABS option; remember this is a real GTS. Some of the ABS harness is in the car but not used.

I am also thinking of replacing the fuel tank, as I see lots of rust there too.
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Day 5 (12-12-2009) Saturday

Today’s goal was to remove transmission, and I was successful

One drive shaft bolt was so tight that with transmission in gear I was turning over the engine as I applied force to loosen it.

The solution was to put a bar in the front yoke between the universal joint and let it jam on the floor of the car. The plenty of rust /buster and a 3 foot breaker bar.

Had a similar problem on the transmission to the bell housing one of the 4 bolts would not budge, again the big breaker bar and rust buster to the rescue.

The motor mounts must be extremely worn the engine tiled backwards excessively when the transmission cross member was removed.

The transmission had been rebuilt by a commercial shop that painted it silver when rebuilt.

The clutch and fly wheel did not look too old.

I Plan on selling

Transmission
Bell Housing
Flywheel SOLD
Clutch assembly SOLD

The next time I get to work on the car I plan on removing all the wiring that is attached the engine to the chassis as well as throttle cable and vacuum hose.
Then I will be ready to pull engine.
I hope to pull engine Wed, today I play Santa for the Knights of Columbus and tomorrow is a day shift at work
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Day 6 (12-14-2009) Monday

Took the
Transmission
Flywheel
Bell housing
Transmission cross member
Starter
To work and washed them in the parts cleaner to make them more presentable to sell

After work put a few hours in removing wiring, heater hose, vacuum hose, grounds to make ready for engine removal

Removed receiver dryer, put in trash.
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Day 7 (12-15-2009) Tuesday

Finished removing anything that would impede engine removal

Unbolted motor mounts from frame

Cut off cat back exhaust

Saved mufflers to sell

Discarded tail pipes

Pulled engine out, one day ahead of schedule

Removed shorty headers from engine, to sell


Put the car back out doors; next item to remove is fuel tank. I do not want to take the chance of spilling gasoline in the garage and getting the smell throughout the house. So I will do it in the drive way.

Day 8 (12-16-2009) Wednesday

Took headers to work, removed all of the broken studs and re-tapped the threads
Wire wheeled the rust off of them, will paint them soon so they can be put up fro sale.

Removed the upper intake from the engine, then I proceeded to remove all of the engine wiring.

[Yankee_pony]

more to come soon

[Yankee_pony]

Day 8 (12-16-2009) Wednesday

Took headers to work, removed all of the broken studs and re-tapped the threads
Wire wheeled the rust off of them, will paint them soon so they can be put up fro sale.

Removed the upper intake from the engine, then I proceeded to remove all of the engine wiring.
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Day 9 (12-17-2009) Thursday

Removed Fuel Tank
Fuel lines were difficult to remove, tank was rotted (not just surface rust), saved sender and pump
Assembly. Blew out all fuel lines with compressed air to remove residual fuel. Removed and discarded fuel filter.
Punched several holes in the fuel tank to ventilate it, before it is put out with the trash.

Degreased under side of car transmission tunnel had a layer of grease on it looks like the transmission had a leak at one time and sprayed the oil all over.

Put car back in the garage.
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Day 10 (12-19-2009) Saturday

Wire wheeled the fuel tank straps and painted them.

12-20-2009 big snow storm 20 + inches of snow

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Day 11 (12-21-2009) Monday

Removed steel impact bumper that supports the bumper cover it was bent and rotted where it creased.
Purchased a new aftermarket one on e bay for $37 which makes more sense then trying to repair the damaged one.

Removed cowl cover (saved for reuse on assembly) and vacuumed out all of the debris that was stuck under it.

Removed from engine compartment all of the wiring. (Saved to reuse on assembly)

Removed vacuum solenoids from passenger sided apron that are part of emission system (saved to sell)

Removed Power steering cooler (saved to sell)

Removed fuel lines that go from hard lines to engine (saved to sell)
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Day 12 (12-23-2009) Wednesday

Removed front suspension and K member

All of the bolts had to be saturated with liquid wrench, to be loosened.

All bolts look reusable once cleaned with a wire wheel

Lower Left side K member the attachment bolt broke away from nut clip used a vise grip to hold it to unfasten.

The only items that looks like it will be OK to sell are the spindles / brake calipers.

Next the rear end and suspension will be removed.
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Day 13 (12-24-2009) Thursday, Christmas Eve


Removed the rear suspension and rear end, today.

Again lots of penetration oil on all the nuts and bolts and help from the 3 foot breaker bar.

One upper control arm was almost 95% worn thru from a rubbing tail pipe.

All control arm bushings were ripped; one lower is still attached to the rear end the bolt is seized in the control arm sleeve.

Need new e brake cables both are seized.

Upper arms to go to the TRASH
Lower arms to go to the TRASH
Quad shocks to go to the TRASH
Shocks to go to the TRASH to
Front struts to go to the TRASH

Removed pinion bump stop, steel mount is badly rusted and needs to be wire wheeled and painted

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Rear Axel Assembly looks like it has never been apart, may rebuild it with a high numerical ratio gear set for short track use???????

Saleable items from suspension

Front and rear springs maybe worth $20 each set

Rear brakes /calipers and brackets $50 / 100??

Front spindles and brakes $100 / 175??

Front control arms need ball joints and bushings may worth $10 each

I do not see recouping much cash on used parts from this car

Transmission and bell housing are best items so far.


This week made a few purchases

Used Auto Power Roll Bar from E bay $200, will be picked up by a friend, who lives in Michigan, then we will figure how to ship it here to NY

4 / 17 x 9 wheels with used Hoosiers $300

4 / 275 -40 – 17 Hoosier GAC tires

NEED TO PURCHASE LIST established from disassembly

Fuel Tank

E brake cable



Day 14 (12-26-2009) Saturday

Removed fuel lines from the body, removed with out damaging them, these will probably not be used. As long as I run the car with a carburetor, but if we go to EFI, they will be handy to have. They show lots of surface rust where they go over the rear axel assembly.

Removed brake line which goes from passenger side front wheel well area to the rear axel. This looks like it only needs to be wiped down with steel wool to remove rust stains, not rot observed. But I may not reuse if I run line for rear brakes thru the interior because I am thinking of putting a manual proportioning vale in the interior so the driver can dial in the amount of rear braking.

Started to clean engine compartment with a wire wheel, the lower radiator support shows signs of rot and will be repaired by adding new sheet metal to it.


Day 15 (12-27-2009) Sunday

What a difference a week makes last Sunday we were digging out from a blizzard today it was in the mid 50’s

I took advantage of the warmer weather.

Lightly Wire wheel the under side of the car then washed with paint thinner, followed by a scuffing with a very coarse scotch brite pad. In some area I used a hand held wire brush it remove the rust

Followed by a final cleaning with paint thinner.

Primed the underside of the car from the front seat area to the rear bumper this covered the area that had surface rust which was easy to remove.

It took 3 spray cans of rustoleum primer, and then a top coat of rustoleum stainless steel color paint was used as a top coat

Primed the lower portion of the radiator support with rusty metal primer brushed it on to give a good heavy coat.


Week of 12-28-2009, Not much work was done this past week, cold weather rain and snow slowed me down. I need to pull the cobra R out of the garage so I can open the door on passenger door fully on the 95 GT project car, this will allow me to remove the dash board and steering column then I will be able to remove the power brake booster easily which then will allow me to clean up and paint the engine compartment.

Sold this week
Fly wheel $25
Clutch disk and P-plate $25
5.0 shifter $32 profit


12-31-2009 Sent Mark Wilson On track Performance solutions my MM order

Front Control Arms, 1994-04, Delrin, Fwd. Offset
Part #: MMFCA-11


K-Member for 1979-95, 5.0 Small Block
Part #: MMKM-1


Adjustable Tie Rod End Kit, 1994-04, bolt-through spindle
Part #: MMTR-3


Solid Motor Mounts, 1979-95
Part #: MMSMM-1

MM Subframe Connectors, XL Full Length, 1994-04, bare
Part #: MMFL-3B


Front Swaybar Relocation Kit, 1994-04
Part #: MMFSB-51


These were the parts I could not find from my wish list used.

I still have 2 other items I want the Torque Arm and rear sway bar but I do not need these to make the car a roller again.

Day 16 (1-1-2010)

Wire wheel many under hood brackets etc. primed and painted

1-2-2010

Received my Rock Auto.com order today, replacement fuel tank and e brake cables

Purchased a Fram fuel filter this week on e bay

Purchase used NASCAR nomex shift boot
1-8-2009 Today marks one month ago I started

Have not done much of anything to talk about I need to do some more painting on the car and it is too cold to paint.

Fuel Filter, Nomex shift boot, bumper support all arrived this week.

Received price quote on some OEM Ford part as well as a FRPP Cobra R Hood

450.00 PLUS 65.00 FOR SHIPPING ON THE M16612R58 HOOD

19.65 EACH ON THE FILLER NECK GROMMENT
48.00 ON THE PROP VALVE
3.15 FOR THE EVAP SEAL
21.00 FOR THE EVAP VALVE
4.95 EACH ON THE BOLTS
Jonathan
Hilbish Ford
2600 South Cannon Blvd
Kannapolis, NC 28083
phone 704-938-3121 EXT 35
fax 704-938-4660

1-9-2010

Painted old short headers so they look good to sell on e bay

Cleaned up bolts that hold front fenders on car and body parts in the engine compartment area, painted all the bolts, light coat of rustoleum primer and top coat.

1-12-2010

Started removing the dash board, most of the bolts are out and wiring disconnected

Will attempt to remove from vehicle tomorrow